Wigan chairman to quit if FA finds him guilty of racism

[severnside gull]

Tend to agree with those who say Whelan simply represents a generation where racist and sexist views were considered normal. Should that be acceptable now? No.
His views as expressed were unacceptable in 2014. Appointing Mackay was naive.
But given that the FA investigation into Mackay is still "ongoing" the chances of getting round to considering Whelan this side of the close season are pretty remote. And by that time Whelan will have long forgotten his threat to walk.......and when reminded will give an A-Z of reasons he should stay, including the wholehearted/unwavering support of the people of Wigan etc etc etc............

 

[Acker79]

And by that time Whelan will have long forgotten his threat to walk.......and when reminded will give an A-Z of reasons he should stay, including the wholehearted/unwavering support of the people of Wigan etc etc etc............

How on earth can you expect him to walk? Don't you know he broke his leg...

 

[severnside gull]

How on earth can you expect him to walk? Don't you know he broke his leg...

That so made me laugh.

Did you know that he missed out on playing in the cup final..................?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Is Whelan a racist or a stoopid old git who doesn't know when to shut up?

I can help thinking he's guilty of being out of step with the 21st century than anything excessively malicious.

If he pays a hefty price for being stupid then so be it.
No one else to blame but himself.

Don't play the age card as the first line of defence for his obviously inappropriate remarks.

I'd hazard a guess that he's just guilty of holding opinions that are widespread among Thatcherite shopkeepers with a track record of treating their staff badly.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Times have changed what was acceptable even 10 yrs ago is not now. This was demonstrated to me by my 5 yr old grand daughter reciting eeni, meenI, minei, mow catch a RABBIT by its toe, not what I learnt.

You're never too old to learn.

 

[Stat Brother]

Don't play the age card as the first line of defence for his obviously inappropriate remarks.

I'd hazard a guess that he's just guilty of holding opinions that are widespread among Thatcherite shopkeepers with a track record of treating their staff badly.

His age has to come into the equation.
Had he voiced those opinions 30 years ago, nobody would have batted an eyelid.

People would have laughed and Bernard Manning would have finally got some new (albeit identical) material.
Fortunately attitudes have changed.

Is Whelan a card carrying racist or an old man who's not needed to move with the times?

To me he sounds like the later.
If that costs him then so be it, it'll not be the namby-pampy liberals that have done for him.
It'll be his own closeted old rich white 'golf club' man lifestyle.

 

[Gordon Bennett]

Have to agree with LB, it's too easy to play the age card. This is a millionaire businessman with extensive experience of dealing with the media we are taking about not some old duffer from Burgess Hill whose highlight of the week is buying his Werther's Originals.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Dave Whelan was brought up on a diet of Alf Garnett and Love Thy Neighbour. Anyone with a relative of a similar age is likely to have heard the same or worse. Doesn't make it right obviously, tho makes it maybe understandable.

 

[fataddick]

Dave Whelan was brought up on a diet of Alf Garnett and Love Thy Neighbour. Anyone with a relative of a similar age is likely to have heard the same or worse. Doesn't make it right obviously, tho makes it maybe understandable.

If you have relatives in their 70s (Whelan was born in 1936, not the fecking Middle Ages) who still use words like that today you obviously haven't challenged/educated them enough. As much your fault as theirs, tbh.

PS I was raised on a diet of The Young Ones, that doesn't mean I can kick down walls, eat televisions and smack my housemates round the head with a hammer. Since when did the stuff comedy shows portrayed when you were younger become justification for your present day behaviour?

 

[Brovion]

Don't play the age card as the first line of defence for his obviously inappropriate remarks.

I'd hazard a guess that he's just guilty of holding opinions that are widespread among Thatcherite shopkeepers with a track record of treating their staff badly.

I must admit I tend to agree. If someone had unearthed a film clip of him saying those things in about 1973, well that is how some people spoke then. (Channel 4 are doing a series called "It was alright in the 70s" which illustrates this!). But he's not some senile old duffer chuntering away to himself in the Snug Bar of the Dog and Duck, he's a successful businessman with a public profile; saying "well he's always spoken like that, that's just what people of his generation think" isn't remotely good enough in this instance.

Having defended John Terry and 'banter' in general I now find myself on the side of the intolerant baying mob in this instance. Not pleasant.

 

[Scampi]

Times have changed what was acceptable even 10 yrs ago is not now. This was demonstrated to me by my 5 yr old grand daughter reciting eeni, meenI, minei, mow catch a RABBIT by its toe, not what I learnt.

That hasn't changed in the last ten years. thats been like that for a good while. I remember in the 80's that changing to digger from the contentious word,

 

[Goldstone1976]

I'm with those that say that espousing the views he did was both unacceptable in 2014 and a reflection of his age. Times change. No doubt there were those who bemoaned the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, the introduction of female emancipation in the early C20 and the legalisation of homosexuality, calling all of them the then equivalent of "it's PC gone mad, I tell you". Yet few would argue that the espousal of views that supported going back to the old regime on any one of those topics would be acceptable.

Him holding the views he seems to is perhaps not that surprising. However that is no excuse for stating them publicly. To do so was, imo, both unacceptable and, frankly, somewhat dim.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

My parents, both born before DW, never felt the need to talk in racist terms.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Dave Whelan was brought up on a diet of Alf Garnett and Love Thy Neighbour. Anyone with a relative of a similar age is likely to have heard the same or worse. Doesn't make it right obviously, tho makes it maybe understandable.

Those two programmes were on in the 70s, by which time Whelan would have been an adult, so he was hardly brought up on them. I am the same age as Lord B, and know that the terms used are unacceptable.

 

[Stat Brother]

I must admit I tend to agree. If someone had unearthed a film clip of him saying those things in about 1973, well that is how some people spoke then. (Channel 4 are doing a series called "It was alright in the 70s" which illustrates this!). But he's not some senile old duffer chuntering away to himself in the Snug Bar of the Dog and Duck, he's a successful businessman with a public profile; saying "well he's always spoken like that, that's just what people of his generation think" isn't remotely good enough in this instance.

Having defended John Terry and 'banter' in general I now find myself on the side of the intolerant baying mob in this instance. Not pleasant.

It's ironic that had he spent more time over the last 30 years in his warehouse canteen than the 19th hole (I have no idea if DW is a golfist, I also have no idea what an old rich white man does with his time in Wigan, so I'm going with golf) at the very worst he'd know to keep those opinions to himself.

As it is we all know there are herds of Pringle jumper clad, jag drivers, up and down the country in total agreement with Whelan's 'I'm not a racist but ...' approach, to the 21st century.

They are wrong, they are racists, but I see a distinction between closeted generational bigots and hate fueled far right BNP type supporters.
DW et al, are dinosaurs, and they will be extinct soon.

None of the above is meant in any way as a defense of his comments.
He was stupid to make them, stupid to employ Milky, and he will pay for that stupidity.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Those two programmes were on in the 70s, by which time Whelan would have been an adult, so he was hardly brought up on them. I am the same age as Lord B, and know that the terms used are unacceptable.

Each generation has become less bigoted and racist in this country, let progress take its course,you cannot force people to think the way you want them to,when that day happens we will really have something to worry about.

 

[Commander]

If you have relatives in their 70s (Whelan was born in 1936, not the fecking Middle Ages) who still use words like that today you obviously haven't challenged/educated them enough. As much your fault as theirs, tbh.

The sheer arrogance of this post astounds me. They lived through a ****ing world war. You think it's up to you to educate them? Who are you to say that?

 

[Czechmate]

Each generation has become less bigoted and racist in this country, let progress take its course,you cannot force people to think the way you want them to,when that day happens we will really have something to worry about.

Totally agree !

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Each generation has become less bigoted and racist in this country, let progress take its course,you cannot force people to think the way you want them to,when that day happens we will really have something to worry about.

You missed the point that I was making. I was also an adult when the programmes mentioned were transmitted. Nobody is forcing anyone to think in certain ways, but showing that not all old people still think in this way.

 

[jimbob5]

It's not PC but a bit of turmoil at Wigan MIGHT help us. That's MIGHT help up. I'm not saying there WILL be turmoil or that if there is it will DEFINITELY help us. It MIGHT help us. That's 'MIGHT'